Slow, but worth the trip for the library!  I expect fans of might like it.  It has that same kind of measured, stately pacing.  It can be thrilling, mind, but it isn't zippy.  I love to read these big old doorstops sometimes.

Library copy

I'm a vampire girl, mostly because it's what I've read more of compared to werewolves and zombies. I especially like the way they've been reimagined throughout time and media.

But if I had to choose from Other, I'd definitely go for ghosts, especially the kind that haunt asylums and abandoned homes because something terrible happened to them.

This is an intense book. It took me about three months to finish, partly because it is very long, but also because it requires a decent amount of mental effort to read. It is not a book that you want to read after a long day. You really have to be in the right mood. But when you are in the right mood, it's a great book to binge read. It is very easy to get swept up in the story.

I thought it was a fantastic book. Well-written, intriguing plot. I loved the use of letters and the frame-stories-within-frame-stories-within-frame-stories format. It was a bit confusing at times, but definitely a great adventure.

The text is written in that kind of old-school way, much like Bram Stoker's Dracula, with lots of detailed descriptions and drawn out emotions. I think it was fitting for the themes of the story.

The reason I gave this book four stars instead of five, is that I think by the end, that drawn-out style worked against it. It took so long to get to the pivotal point, that when it finally occurred, it was kind of a let down. The end was a bit anti-climactic and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. It felt rushed and not as well planned out as the rest of the plot.

Overall, a great book, but I wished the ending was better. The rest of the book was absolutely fantastic. A wonderful vampire story filled with various mysteries lost over time. 

—Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova, author; Joanne Whalley, Dennis Boutsikaris, Rosalyn Landor, Martin Jarvis, Robin Atkin Downes, Jim Ward, narrators

Does Vlad Tepes, Count Dracula still live? That is the subject of this book. The reader will travel all over the world with the characters as the search for his tomb begins. Will it be discovered?

Professor Bartholomew Rossi has decided to revisit his research on Dracula. He advises Paul, a graduate student, who has come to him to ask about an odd book containing a dragon symbol that he has suddenly discovered in his possession. It turns out that the book is related to Rossi’s research on Vlad Tepes. He also has a little blank book with a dragon symbol on it. He begins to explain his research to Paul and gives him some papers to read on the subject. When Rossi suddenly disappears under suspicious circumstances, Paul searches for him, and in the course of events, he meets the Professor’s illegitimate daughter, Helen Rossi, from Romania. Together, they both try and find the missing professor before it is too late, albeit for different reasons. They fear he will be terminally infected by Dracula and condemned to the life of the undead. Their search takes them to several countries and places where they believe Vlad Tepes may have been buried, where they believe he has hidden the professor. They believe that Dracula still lives. Will they be successful?

Years later, Paul is traveling with his daughter. When he suddenly leaves her a note telling her to return home, but does not tell her where he has gone, which is totally out of character, she searches through his papers. The secrets she discovers are intriguing and she sets out to attempt to find him. She believes that he may be in danger. Apparently he is searching for her mother, yet she believes her mother is dead. She did not know anything about her, however, until she found letters and papers that her father had hidden away and never shared with her. Will she find her father? Will he find her mother?

There are three parallel stories that are covered. One takes place when Paul is a student, searching for his professor, one takes place when his daughter is a high school student searching for him as he searches for her mother, and than a third takes place, years later as his daughter, now a professional herself, discovers an odd book is suddenly in her possession.

Although the story is not believable, it is well written and very interesting as Dracula’s history is related. I was drawn into it.  In my audio, there were several narrators, all of whom I enjoyed. I found it advantageous to have different voices for each character, which kept them distinct. For science fiction fans, this book will be a treat.